THE WEEKENDER 49 | 2024
Collage News & Inspiration
WORDS TO LIVE BY
“In a world where speaking one’s mind is, by definition, unsettling, when I took art in general and writing in particular as vocations I promised myself that I would never betray my inner being or sell out. To “be real”, to be someone I can love and understand. From repression to expression, this meant not to censor oneself when it comes to creativity. For one could gain the world but lose their soul. At some point along the way I came to accept that, having an unquenched appetite for the different and unordinary, my views will always seem to convey a distaste for conformity and the established norms of the day; that which is considered “popular” by the masses. As an outsider swimming upstream against the current, usually in solitude, who’s looking in at humanity — and through it — rather than looking out. As such, I shall carry on speaking my unfiltered, anti-conformist, anti-establishment mind till the day I die. The true artist who does not fit in often ends up standing out.”
― Omar Cherif
The latest collage news and inspiration!
Enjoy!
Substack, this here newsletter platform, offers paid subscriptions, but this is no paywall. We believe in making art accessible to the widest possible audience, and our newsletter will remain free for anyone to read. Opting for a paid subscription is a way to support the collective and all we do. So is signing up to our Artist Directory. Think about it :)
NEWS
All information about our upcoming COLLAGE NOTES exhibition can be found in our special edition newsletter here - a little reminder: to sign up for the workshops, please email Espace Canopy directly at espacecanopy@gmail.com - We hope to see you soon!
At the fair, ILY2 is also showing a series of hauntingly delicate collage works from the late 1970s. Made while the artist was finishing her MFA at Rutgers, these intimately scaled works are covered in rivulets of white thread, which meander through ribbons, beads, garter straps, and other odds and ends. The softness of these works is like the stillness of a child’s nursery and the hints of women’s undergarments–garters, bra extenders—feel gentle, tender, like recollections of a mother dressing herself, of darning and mending garments. - At 74, Bonnie Lucas, Artist of Feminine Macabre, Is Getting Her Big Break - via artnet
Like many artists of his era, Tanaami was heavily influenced by American culture and artists. He emulated Andy Warhol, whom he met several times both in Japan and New York, by pivoting away from pure illustration towards techniques like collage and printing. There is also a darker strain of American influence in Tanaami’s work, stemming from his survival of the firebombing of Tokyo during the Second World War. Many motifs in his collages allude to US militarism, from comic-book fighter planes to more subtle elements like the famous roosters of the Edo-era painter Ito Jakuchu, which he deploys to reference the chickens he heard as a child, panicking in response to air-raid sirens. - Posthumous triumph for Japanese Pop maximalist Keiichi Tanaami at ICA Miami - via The Art Newspaper
The scale of Thomas' paintings, often made of unconventional materials like glitter, sequins, and yarn, makes them feel larger than life, with the eyes of her subjects gazing directly at the viewer. Each piece begins as a collage.
"I love the instant, tangible way having my hands at it, as if I'm sculpting with the paper, allows me the immediacy of the process," she says. "My scissors are sort of a way of drawing." - Mickalene Thomas makes art that 'gives Black women their flowers' - via WUNC
The Greek artist duo Frank Moth has carved a distinct niche in the art world with their dreamy, retro-futuristic collages. Blending vintage photography, celestial motifs, and organic elements, their works evoke nostalgia, human connection, and a sense of otherworldly wonder. - Frank Moth’s Blending of Nostalgia and Surrealism - via Moss and Fog
Other ‘artistic works’ – photographs, sculptures, collages, etc – would only get 16 years of copyright protection in that context. However, a work of artistic craftsmanship gets a further nine years of protection against unauthorised reproduction. - Can you copyright a rowing machine? - via Newsroom
Technically, the film is pieced together using an intricate collage of public domain footage and audio, with each piece carefully chosen to create a dream-like aesthetic. Covamonas worked meticulously to craft each frame of the 73-minute feature, producing roughly three seconds of footage per working day. - Aria Covamonas’ Buzzy Animated Feature Debut ‘The Great History of Western Philosophy’ Acquired by Miyu Distribution (EXCLUSIVE) - via Variety
Thus, by combining photography, type, handwriting, drawing, and collage, Choi is attempting to take impossible relationships and make them coherent. To do so, she herself becomes the mediating object: a child shaped by Korea and Germany and the US, a woman who came of age in relation to three nation-states, these nation-states cannot be reconciled without her poetic impulse. Otherwise, they are just disparate theaters of war. - Without the Poet, There Is Only War - via Public Books
PCC
A selection of challenge submissions from last week is up on our website and can be seen here, the image prompt for next week is available to download here
Our 2025 Workbook is out and available for sale on our website. Our weekly creative challenge remains free and open to everyone and everything, digital or analog artists, French or not. The workbook is an optional add-on for those who prefer to work with paper and don’t want to print our images themselves. Like every year, the book is designed so that you can either take it apart or create your collages in the book itself. Week numbers and image sources are on the back of each image, so even if your books falls apart at one point, you will always know what’s what!
And last but not least, have a look at and/or submit to our ‘other’ Instagram account Paris Collage Collective Unlimited where we showcase collages that have absolutely nothing to do with our weekly creative challenge.
If you have any news about exhibitions, publications or events you want so share with the community, please send an email with all relevant information and at least one link to a website or venue to: hello@pariscollagecollective.com